Celeste

In London, the moment two commuters, Aaron and Lilly, lay eyes on each another on a packed Monday morning tube train, everyone else around them vanishes. In Los Angeles, Ray is sitting in gridlock on the 405 Freeway when he receives a call from an LAPD officer with news about his wife. Ray fears the worst. But just as the officer is about to give Ray the news, he is cut off. The caller has disappeared, and so has everyone else around him. Everyone except for a badly beaten man tied up in the trunk of another car. In Japan, comic artist Yoshi has come to the Aokigahara Forest to hang himself. But just as he lifts his head to the noose, a voice startles him. Yoshi falls, and the noose misses his chin. Having slid free, he realises that the world has changed: there is no sign of human life - but the forest is alive with mythical creatures. Taking us through the deserted streets of London, the empty freeways of Los Angeles, and the dream world of the Aokigahara Forest, the three stories of Celeste raise life's central questions: Why are we here? What does it mean to be alone in the world? Why do we need each other? Ambitious in scope, and illustrated in Culbard's beautiful trademark style, this is a compelling and profound graphic novel that explores what it means to be alive.